Chapter 37

CHAPTER 37 Everybody screamed. "You shot your own daughter! You shot your own daughter!" a high-pitched voice shrieked again and again. Dan couldn't tell if it was Amy's or Sinead's or Natalie's. His ears weren't working right. He could feel himself slipping toward the same kind of numb shock he'd fallen into after Lester's death. His vision blurred. No, he thought, fighting against the numbness, the darkness. That's what Isabel wants. She wants us shocked and stupid. So she can do anything she wants. Dan's eyes cleared a little. Now he could see Isabel, still pointing her gun. He could see Ian bent over Natalie, crumpled on the floor. It seemed to take superhuman strength, but Dan stumbled over to Ian and Natalie.

第三十七章大家都尖叫起来。 “你枪杀了自己的女儿！”你打死了自己的女儿！”一个尖利的声音一次又一次地尖叫。 丹分不清是艾米的还是辛尼德的还是娜塔莉的。 他的耳朵不能正常工作。 他能感觉到自己正在滑向他在莱斯特死后陷入的那种麻木的震惊。 他的视力模糊了。不，他想，与麻木和黑暗作斗争。 这就是伊莎贝尔想要的。她想让我们震惊和愚蠢。 这样她就可以为所欲为了。 丹的眼睛豁然开朗了一点。 现在他看见伊莎贝尔还在用枪指着他。 他看见伊恩俯身看着娜塔莉，瘫倒在地板上。 这似乎需要超人的力量，但丹跌跌撞撞地走到伊恩和娜塔莉面前。

"The rest of us can take care of Natalie," Dan muttered to Ian. "You go get Jonah before Isabel shoots again." "That's right— and I will if you don't obey," Isabel said, her voice as cold and hard as metal. "This time it was just Natalie's foot. The next time—" She spun the gun around, pointing first at Amy's head, then at Alistair's chest, then at Natalie's back. "Who knows?" Gasping— possibly even sobbing— Ian stumbled away. "And don't take too long, or I will shoot again," Isabel threatened. Dan crouched by Natalie's side. He could see a hole in her fancy designer shoe. Blood was seeping out. At least it wasn't gushing. "It doesn't hurt," Natalie whispered. "I think the bullet just grazed my foot. I'm just pretending to be in pain so we can outsmart my mum." Dan decided not to tell Natalie that she was probably in shock, and that was why she hadn't felt any pain yet. But outsmarting Isabel— that

“我们剩下的人可以照顾娜塔莉，”丹低声对伊恩说。 “在伊莎贝尔再次开枪之前，你去找乔纳。” “没错——如果你不听话，我就动手。”伊莎贝尔说，她的声音像金属一样冷酷无情。 “这次只是娜塔莉的脚。 下次——”她把枪转了一圈，先是对准艾米的头，然后对准阿利斯泰尔的胸膛，最后对准娜塔莉的后背。 “谁知道呢?”伊恩喘着气，甚至可能是抽泣着，跌跌撞撞地走开了。 “别拖太久，不然我又要开枪了。”伊莎贝尔威胁道。 丹蹲在娜塔莉身边。 他可以看到她的名牌鞋上有个洞。 血渗出来了。至少不是滔滔不绝。 “不疼，”娜塔莉低声说。 “我想子弹只是擦到了我的脚。 我只是假装很痛苦，这样我们就能比我妈妈聪明。” 丹决定不告诉娜塔莉，她可能受到了惊吓，这就是为什么她还没有感觉到任何疼痛。 但是比伊莎贝尔更聪明

sounded like a good idea. Before Dan could think of a plan, he heard Hamilton call from behind him, "I'll go help Ian get Jonah. It'll be faster that way." "No!" Isabel screamed. She fired the gun again, but this time she aimed into the space between Hamilton and Ian, keeping Hamilton back. "I won't have you plotting together back there!" Amy dropped to her knees beside Dan. "Does Natalie need a tourniquet to stop the bleeding? Or just a bandage?" she said loudly. Under her breath she added in a whisper, "Got a plan?" Above them, Alistair took a step toward Isabel. He had his hands up, as if surrendering. Dan hoped so badly that Alistair had a plan, that his surrender was fake. But he teamed up with Isabel before, when my parents died, Dan thought. And now… Alistair was only asking a question. "Why?" Alistair asked Isabel. "You already have the serum. You won. Why do you have to torture

听起来是个好主意。丹还没来得及想出计划，就听到汉密尔顿在他身后喊：“我去帮伊恩找乔纳。” 那样会快一些。” “不!”伊莎贝尔尖叫。她又开了一枪，但这次她瞄准了汉密尔顿和伊恩之间的空间，让汉密尔顿退后。 “我不允许你们在后面一起密谋！”艾米跪在丹身边。 “娜塔莉需要止血带止血吗？” 还是只是绷带？”她大声说。 她压低声音又低声说：“有什么计划吗？”在他们上方，阿利斯泰尔朝伊莎贝尔走了一步。 他举起双手，好像要投降似的。 丹太希望阿利斯泰尔有个计划，他的投降是假的。 但他以前和伊莎贝尔合作过，在我父母去世的时候，丹想。 而现在，阿利斯泰尔只是问了一个问题。 “为什么?”阿利斯泰尔问伊莎贝尔。 “你已经有血清了。 你赢了。你为什么要折磨人

the rest of us? Why can't you just let us go?" "Oh, I have the serum, do I?" Isabel mocked, her face twisting hideously. "That's what the Madrigals want me to think. They want me falling for their tricks!" "Tricks?" Alistair repeated numbly. "Are you that much of a fool?" Isabel asked impatiently. "Or do you think that I am?" Isabel waved the gun again, but this time she seemed to be making a decision. Selecting someone. Selecting… Dan. Isabel pointed the gun directly at him. "Young master Cahill," she said, almost in that sticky-sweet voice that some grown-ups use with very small children. "You've proved to be quite a shining star of the Cahill family during this clue hunt. Tell me. What have you seen again and again in this silly Madrigal gauntlet? Located near so many locked doors… or doors the Madrigals intended to be locked before I intervened." Dan couldn't think. Not with the gun pointed at him, not with Isabel staring him right in the

我们其他人呢？你为什么就不能放我们走？”“哦，我有血清，是吗？”伊莎贝尔嘲笑道，她的脸扭曲得可怕。 “牧歌就是想让我这么想的。 他们想让我上当！”“把戏?”阿利斯泰尔麻木地重复着。 “你有那么傻吗？”伊莎贝尔不耐烦地问。 “或者你认为我是？”伊莎贝尔又挥动了一下枪，但这一次她似乎在做决定。 选择一个人。选择……丹。 伊莎贝尔把枪对准了他。 “卡希尔少爷，”她说，几乎是用一些大人对小孩子说话时那种黏糊糊的、甜甜的声音。 “在这次寻找线索的过程中，你已经证明了你是卡希尔家族中一颗闪亮的明星。 告诉我。在这首愚蠢的牧歌中，你一次又一次地看到了什么？ 牧歌靠近许多锁着的门……在我干预之前，它们本打算锁上的。” 丹无法思考。有枪指着他，伊莎贝尔盯着他

eyes. Amy grabbed him around the shoulders, holding him up. Protecting him. "You mean the keypads," she said. Her voice trembled, but Dan could still hear the strength in it. He felt stronger himself. His mind cleared. "The keypads that five people had to touch," he said. "One from each branch." "Oh, that's right, the two of you work together," Isabel said mockingly. "You help each other. That's so touching." She winced, almost as if she regretted having no one beside her. But surely Dan was only imagining that. He blinked, and when he looked again, Isabel's gaze was as steely as ever. It was cowardly, but Dan was so glad that Amy didn't drop her arm from around his shoulders. "All those keypads, all along the way," Isabel mused. "All the safeguards. And then this large vial of supposed serum is just sitting here out in the open? Unprotected? Available to anyone?" "Th-the keypads before," Amy stammered. "The Madrigals thought that was enough to pro—"

眼睛。艾米抓住他的肩膀，把他扶起来。 保护他。“你是说键盘吧，”她说。 她的声音颤抖着，但丹仍然能听出她的力量。 他觉得自己更强壮了。他的头脑清醒了。 “五个人必须触摸的键盘，”他说。 “每根树枝一个。”“哦，对了，你们俩是一起工作的。”伊莎贝尔嘲弄地说。 “你们互相帮助。这太感人了。” 她畏缩了一下，几乎是在后悔身边没有人。 但丹肯定只是在想象。 他眨了眨眼睛，当他再看时，伊莎贝尔的目光一如既往地坚定。 这是懦弱的表现，但丹很高兴艾米没有从他的肩膀上放下她的手臂。 “一路上都有键盘，”伊莎贝尔若有所思地说。 “所有的保障措施。然后这一大瓶本该是血清的东西就这么躺在外面？ 未受保护的吗?任何人都可以使用吗？”“以前的键盘，”艾米结结巴巴地说。 “牧歌队认为这足以支持——”

Isabel shook the vial. "It's only colored water!" she screamed. "That's all that's in here!" Don't shoot, Dan thought. Please don't shoot. Somebody was sobbing behind him. Amy held on to Dan so tightly it hurt. He didn't care. Isabel moved the gun. It wasn't exactly that she'd stopped pointing it at Dan, but that she was ready to shoot anyone. "But those tricky Madrigals can't trick me," she said. "I have been studying this vial for hours. I discovered my children's treachery much sooner than they expected. So I had time. It's such thick glass… and those Madrigals do so love their fingerprint proof. They want fingerprint proof here, too. But just because five people trigger a secret, that doesn't mean all five get to keep it, now, do they?" Dimly, even with his brain swimming with terror, Dan could see what she meant. She thought the vial itself was like another keypad. If someone from each of the five Cahill branches

伊莎贝尔摇晃着小瓶。“那只是彩色的水！”她尖叫道。 “这就是所有的东西！”别开枪，丹想。 请不要开枪。有人在他身后抽泣。 艾米紧紧地抓着丹，弄疼了她。 他不在乎。伊莎贝尔移动了枪。 这并不是说她不再用枪指着丹了，而是说她随时准备向任何人开枪。 “但是那些狡猾的牧歌骗不了我，”她说。 “我已经研究这个小瓶子好几个小时了。 我发现孩子们的背叛行为比他们预料的要早得多。 所以我有时间。玻璃太厚了，牧歌乐队非常喜欢防指纹。 他们也想要指纹证明。 但是，仅仅因为五个人触发了一个秘密，并不意味着五个人都能保守这个秘密，不是吗？”尽管丹的脑子里充满了恐惧，但他还是模糊地明白了她的意思。 她认为药瓶本身就像另一个键盘。 如果卡荷尔五家分行都有人